Improvement in horse-rakes



accompanying drawings,

e climi 5 Mesas-w er S YL VA N IA.

. Lettorev Patent No. 87,345, dated Mor/rch 2, 1869.

EDMUND E, LAUER AND HENRY W. EISENHAR IMPROVEMENT rn- HORSE-RAKES.

The Schedulereferred to in these Letters Patent:v and making par: of the sama.

To all whom it may concern: t

Be it known that we EDMUND E. LAUER and HENRY W. EISENHART, of York, in the county of York', and State oi' Pennsylvania, have invented Vcertain new and useful Improvements in Horse Hay-Rakes and we'do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencey being had to the making a part of `this speciiication, in which- Figure l is a plan view of the improved rake. Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal' section, taken in the planes indicated by the course of red line :c :t in ii l.

gFigure 3 is a similar view'of the same parts shown in lig. 2, representing, the rake-teeth thrown up to their full height.

Figura-t isa-an? enlarged front viewof parts of the machine, showing the devices for throwing up the raketeeth, and also for allowing them to fall back again into raking-position, v

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several gures.

This invention relates to certain novel improvements on that class of horse hay-rakes wherein the rake-teeth are pivoted to a head, or bar, which is mounted upon, wheels, and provided with certain contrivances whereby va person riding `upon the machine can cause the rakes to discharge theirgathered load bythe draught of the team, and then'automatically return to a position for raking again The nature of our invention consists in so constructing a rake ofthe above-mentioned class, that the weight oi' the driver mounted'upon the machine shall operate, to some extent, to keep the points of the rake-teeth down in raking-position, and also operate to return the v rake to a raking-position, afterrevery discharge of a gathered load, as will he hereinafter explained.

It also consists in applying pivoted spring-rake teeth, and the guides, or lateral stays for these teeth, upon an oscillating axle-tree of the transporting-wheels, and in applying to said axle-tree a lever-latch, by which a person mounted upon the machine' can engage the axletree with teeth formed upon one of the transportingwheels, and thereby cause the rake-teeth to discharge their load by the draught of the team, as will be hereinafter explained.

It also consists in applying the'driveis seat or stand upon thills, which are hung by joints below'an oscillating axle-tree of a horse-rake, which is constructed with independently-pivoted spring-metal rake-teeth,

with lateral stays andguides for such teeth, and also with a device which will enable a person riding upon the machine, to effect the discharge of a gathered load, at pleasure, by the draught of the horse, as will be hereinafter described.

-drawings, figs. 1, 2, and

To enable others skilled in the art to understand our invention, we will describe its construction and oper; ation.

In the accompanying drawings, A A represent'two transporting-wheels, which are applied upon short axles, J, which are secured rigidly to the bottom side of an axle-tree, B, so that this axle-tree is allowed to turn freely' in the hubs of said wheels.

. To the bottom side of this axle-tree, B, and at points, n, below the axis of motion thereof, the thills D D are hung, as shown in ligs. 2, 3,' and 4, so that a weight upon said thills, near the'axle-tree, will have a tendency to keep it in the-position shown in fig. 2.

Said jointed attachments are secured to a cross-bar, E', of the thills, from which bar rods or teeth, c, pro-- ject back, and form a fork, for clearing the rake-teeth ofhaywhen said teeth are raised to discharge theA gathered loads. g

In front ofthe bar E', and in front of the axle-tree B, is another' cross-bar, E, which has secured to it the standard G of the drivers seat `G,Which seat is arranged ove'r or above the axle-tree, as shown in the On one side of said seat-standard, and secured to the bar E, by means of a set-screw, t', is a laterally-inclined shifting-arm, g, which is adjustable laterally, and designed to serve a plained hereinafter. Y p

0n top of the axle-tree B, and securely bolted thereto, is a number of eye-bearings, f f, which extend forward, and serve as a support for the rod s, to which the elongated tubes c, carrying rake-teeth b, are applied.-

These tubes e are made long 'enough to properly space the rake-teeth, and they are allowed to oscillate rod s, ,so as to form pivots or joints for'the rake-teeth.

The front ends of the teeth 'are shrunk around said tubes c, and thus rigidlysecured to them, and these teeth` extend back over the axle-tree, and pass 'through vertical slots, Whicharemade through a piece, O, secured to the axle-tree, as shown in the drawings.

The rake-teeth are made of spring-metal, and are curved in any suitable manner for raking upscattered hay or grass. They extend down between the forkteeth c, so that these latter teeth will clear them of loose hay, which might not otherwise be discharged.

The slotted bar O serves as a means for staying the teeth against lateral thrust, and allows any one or more of them to rise, independently ofthe others, sufficiently far to pass unobstructedly over objects which might be in their way.

On one side ofthe drivers seat G, and applied to the front side of the axle-tree B, is a laterally-vibrating hand-lever, h, to which a latch-rod, j, is pivoted.

This rod passes through a guard or guide-plate, p,

purpose which will be 4further` ex.

T, or YORK, PENN seen in iig. 4, and when the lever h is moved in the position shown in g. 4, the outer extremity` of this rod j will engage with teeth, a, uponthe hub of wheel A'.

When the axle-tree B is thus engaged with the wheel A, the forward movement of the horse vwill cause` the axle to turn with said wheel a sufficient distance to raise the rake-teeth b to the position'shown in fig. 3, when the shifting-arm g willact upon lever h, and release the latch j from the teeth a of wheel A', thereby allowing` the rake and axle to fall back to the position shown in g. 2, for gathering another load.

When the rake-teeth are in raking-position, the hand-lever hy will be in a position alongside of the drivers seat, which is convenient to the hand of the driver, whocan use this lever,'when necessary, for pressing the points of the rake-teeth down to their work, and also for raising all the rake-teeth, should any one or more of them me'et with an obstruction in their path.

The pivotal attachments n, of the thills D, being located below the axis-motion of the axle-tree B, as described, it will be seen that the weight. ofthe driver will operate, to a certain extent, to keep these teeth down "in raking-position. Such pivotal attachment will also allow the axle-tree, with its teeth, to turn forward, in the operation of discharging the loads oi' hay, as described.l

Having described our invention,

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The arrangement of the dm'veis seat G upon thills, which are hinged to the bottom edge of the eccentric-oscillating axle-tree B, and the teeth b, upon independent bearings located forward of the axle, on a shaft which is supported by said axle, and the slotted guides C, on the rear upper edge of said axle, all for joint` operation, substantially in the manner and for the purpose. described.

' 2. The arrangement ofthe eccentric-oscillating axletree B, independently-pivoted teeth b, guides C, thills D, hinged at n to said axle, lever h, latch j, tripping o r shifting-arm g, and the catches a a, upon the transporting-wheel A', substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein described.

3. The arrangement of the adjusting-ann g, thills D, joints n, and eccentric-oscillating axle-tree B, substantially in the manner and for the purpose described.

4. The arrangement of the fork-teeth, or rake-clearers, c, thills I), joints n, and eccentric-oscillating axletree B, substantially in the manner and for the purpose described.

5. The horse hay-rake, with its axle, its teeth, its thills, its seat, its guides, its clearers, and its dischargingfdevices, all constructed and combined substantially as described.

E. E. LAUER. H. W. EISENHART.

Witnesses:

J. W. BLNKLY, Gno. A. HEGKELL.' 

